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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25887631">Safe in the Sanctuary</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandolinDoodler/pseuds/MandolinDoodler'>MandolinDoodler</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hiccup/Viggo AUs [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Illustrated, M/M, Viggo lives au, second movie divergence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:40:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25887631</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandolinDoodler/pseuds/MandolinDoodler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Triple Cross AU where the skrill brings Viggo to the dragon sanctuary where Valka nurses him back to health.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Stoick the Vast/Valka, Viggo Grimborn/Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hiccup/Viggo AUs [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855789</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Picks up after "Flying with Mother" when Hiccup and Valka return to the sanctuary</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's awkward when they return to the sanctuary. Valka escorts him to the main cavern where dragons flock and the king rests. They stand there listening to the caws and roars of the beasts. Hiccup avoids her eye just as she avoids his, neither knowing where to go, what to say, with the knowledge of their vastly different opinions on Drago Bludvist.</p><p>Hiccup's gaze follows the dragons swooping through the air, one in particular performing loops around the ice hanging from above. As it takes a dive, he catches a flicker of light in a cave across the way. His eyes bounce back and see a human shaped shadow dart out of sight. He squints and takes a step closer to the edge, Toothless eyeing him on the sidelines as if preparing for his rider to jump off without warning.</p><p>"Hey, mom?" Valka turns from where she was trying to make her escape from the tension.</p><p>"What is it?" She's curious of the suspicious tone Hiccup uses.</p><p>"Is there anyone else here?" He turns to face her. "Other dragon riders that live here or are, I don't know, visiting or something?"</p><p>Valka walks over to stand next to her son. His gaze is back on the cave on the other side of the bewilderbeast and suddenly she understands where his question is coming from. Relief is in her voice when she answers, "oh, yes, just one other rider. He leaves here even less than I do, but sometimes he aids in my missions."</p><p>Hiccup's relief matches his mother's and now his curiosity is piqued. It's rare to find other riders with a similar cause as his own. So many times they end up like Krogan who was forcing dragons into doing his bidding. "Will he meet me?" He doesn't want to impose on the mysterious man, but he already has so many questions.</p><p>"Maybe another time, after I've had a chance to tell him about you." She pauses, "I think you two will get along well. Since his arrival several months ago he's worked to build contraptions like what you built for Toothless."</p><p>At the mention of his name, the nightfury bounds over and into Valka's side, knocking her into Hiccup. They share a laugh at the dragon, some of the earlier tension fading away. "So, how did he end up here? Get kidnapped by a dragon like you?" He sends a playful smirk to his mother. She grins back.</p><p>"Something like that." She runs a hand over Toothless' scales. "A skrill actually brought him here." Toothless stiffens under her hand, his wide eyes dart to Hiccup's own.</p><p>"A skrill?"</p><p>"You should see her, Hiccup. She's magnificent!" Valka is oblivious to her son's distress. "But she came here in a frenzy months ago, a man clutched in her claws, barely breathing and covered in wounds. Upon her insistence, I decided to nurse him back to health. He’s been here ever since.”</p><p>She finally looks at Hiccup and notices the manic look in his eyes. His arms are twitching like he can't figure out what to do with them, one hand comes up to run through his hair, pulling at the dark strands as his eyes flick to the cave then to Valka then Toothless and back to the cave. The nightfury bumps his head into Hiccup's chest, nudges his nose up into the young man's neck and cheek in an attempt to calm him.</p><p>"Hiccup-"</p><p>"Viggo." He breathes the name and Valka startles back. "Viggo Grimborn is here?" She nods but he's hardly paying attention. "He's <em> here, </em> he's alive and well and he's <em> right here, </em> he's been here the <em> whole time </em> ," he shifts from disbelief to anger, "he's been here the <em> whole time </em> and he couldn't even send a terror mail? I mourned him!" He addresses Valka, "I <em> mourned </em> him - <em> twice! </em> He was dead <em> twice </em> and I mourned him both times just to find out he's been here all this time and couldn't even be bothered to <em> tell me </em>!"</p><p>Hiccup turns away abruptly, stares angrily out over the sanctuary, hands planted on his hips as he paces a few steps away huffing through his nose. He turns back towards Valka, stops, growls, hands balling into fists, turns on his heel and runs to the edge of the cliff.</p><p>"You <em> ass! </em>" He yells and it echoes off the icy walls. A good chunk of dragons halt what they're doing to stare at the angry human. "I can't believe-" he goes to continue his tirade but stops and mumbles to himself, "wait, what am I doing?"</p><p>Without warning Hiccup leaps off the cliff, Toothless at his heels. Valka marvels at how in sync they are, joining together at the last moment to pull up and fly to the cave. She makes a move to follow, signaling to Cloudjumper, when a voice makes her freeze.</p><p>"Valka?"</p><p>Meanwhile, Toothless lands just outside the cave on the other side of the sanctuary. The skrill wastes no time greeting the pair, glad to see them in good health after their last encounter. Hiccup absentmindedly strokes her side as he passes her, intent on getting to the shadowed areas of the cave where he knows Viggo is hiding. The moment he spots the former dragon hunter he launches himself at the man. They go tumbling to the ground.</p><p>"<em> You </em> !" Hiccup grips Viggo's shirt in his fists. The man seems mildly startled and out of breath having forgotten how much force the rider can pack when he wants. " <em> You! </em>" All other words have escaped him, everything he was about to yell across the cavern is gone and all he can manage is the accusing "you." He gives up on words, growls instead, and shoves his fists hard into Viggo's chest forcing the man flat on his back with a grunt.</p><p>"Always a pleasure to see you, my dear Hiccup."</p><p>
  <em> My dear Hiccup </em>
</p><p>Gods if he hasn't longed to hear that again, spoken by this very voice. He feels the wetness in his eyes. His head drops so his forehead is resting on Viggo's chest and he breathes in the other's scent. It's cold and earthy from staying in the sanctuary with a hint of spice and lightning.</p><p>"You know this dying thing you keep doing? We're done, no more dying until I say you can die." Viggo chuckles and the rumble it sends through Hiccup is almost enough to make him smile. The former hunter brings a hand up, feathers his fingertips through Hiccup's hair, brings them down to caress the younger man's face and turn it to his own. He plants a gentle, reverent kiss on Hiccup's lips, cherishes the feel of it, then pulls back.</p><p>"What do I get in return?"</p><p>"For not dying?" Hiccup asks incredulously, grin finally gracing his face. Viggo hums a yes. "Uh," he thinks about it, eyes searching the cave for an answer before landing on the older man's lips. "You can have all the kisses you want. Day or night, they're yours."</p><p>"And your betrothed will be okay with this?" Viggo remembers a relationship between the dragon rider and his right hand warrior, remembers Johann mentioning a betrothal at some point.</p><p>"She's not my betrothed anymore, so it doesn't really matter." All he has to do is raise an eyebrow and Hiccup elaborates. "I was too hung up on a certain dragon hunter that gave his life for me. Too busy thinking of what could have been, I guess." That's understating the whole problem, all the fights they got in, the accusations, the feelings Hiccup developed for a dead man and the feelings he lost for his best friend. The memory of it all drags him down and he rests his weight more fully onto Viggo.</p><p>"You should sleep more."</p><p>"You don't know anything." There's no heat behind the words because he knows they're true. At least today he can agree with the statement. Tomorrow he'll be rejuvenated and ready to deal with the looming threat of Drago Bludvist and fight anyone that tries to tell him to do otherwise. "Today's been… quite the day. I don't think I can handle any more surprises. First I find out there's some madman creating a dragon army, then my dead mother kidnaps me, and now I find out you've evaded death yet again. I will happily accept sleep if it means no more life shattering news today."</p><p>"So you know of Drago Bludvist?" Viggo looks concerned. He knows from experience and hearsay what Hiccup will do to turn others to his side, how naive the younger man tends to be.</p><p>"Yep."</p><p>"And what's your plan?"</p><p>"My plan?"</p><p>"A power hungry man is abusing dragons, surely you have a plan by now. Perhaps something ingenious and farfetched if you're the same man I fought for so long."</p><p>"Everyone keeps telling me 'there's no talking to Drago Bludvist, there's no changing his mind' but that's how I've stopped so many of our enemies and our wars." He hauls himself up so he's sitting properly in Viggo's lap. The older man follows him up. "My father changed, Dagur changed, <em> you </em> changed. How is Drago any different?"</p><p>"My dear, heed their warnings. Bludvist is truly a madman, he won't wait to hear what you have to say. The moment you become a threat to his operation he'll eliminate you and take Toothless for his army." Hiccup mulls over the information.</p><p>"Well, whatever happens it isn't gonna be today." His shoulders shrug as he says this. One hand comes up to trace over the scars on Viggo's face, following the lines of electric burns that are layered over the lava burns and up to his blind eye. "Now that you're back, maybe we can think of a plan - together - something to change Drago's mind or stop his army."</p><p>Viggo hums, "later. For now I'd like to enjoy your company. No one should bother us over here." His hands slide up Hiccup's thighs. Hiccup leans into it, the corners of his lips lifting as he ducks his head to initiate a kiss, embracing the intimacy he could only dream of until today.</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There will be at least one more chapter because I want to address how Viggo's presence changes the battle at the sanctuary and sneak in some moments between Stoick and Valka, especially their reactions to Hiccup and Viggo's past. I imagine Hiccup wouldn't have been too forthcoming with those details to Stoick after that whole mess was over.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Battle at the Sanctuary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His back is on fire.</p>
<p>Someone's yelling his name. They sound scared, panicked. His eyes squint open and there's a blurry form above him turning him onto his - <em> ow! </em> His back is <em> on fire </em>. More yelling, his cry joins in as ice makes contact with his back and large hands adjust his position.</p>
<p>The form fills his vision, becomes less blurry, and he thinks it's Viggo but that can't be right because Viggo is dead, he died at that hunter camp with a back full of arrows and his mind must be playing tricks <em> - owowow fire shooting up his spine, filling his mouth with bile. </em> He barely manages to flip over enough to empty his stomach on the ground. The man before him keeps telling him to hold on.</p>
<p>Beyond the illusion of Viggo he sees Toothless. Well, it's hard to make him out from so far away but he can recognize his dragon anywhere and his dragon looks horribly guilty even from here. He tries to reach for his friend. A monstrous bellow echoes through the battlefield followed by the roar of a giant. Toothless' body jerks, stills, then the nightfury is clumsily trying to join the rest of the dragons in the sky.</p>
<p>His arm falls to the ground, too weak to keep reaching for his friend.</p>
<p>Gobber's voice infiltrates his mind, the voices of the other dragon riders are nearby, split between himself and somewhere behind him. The man that can't be Viggo lifts him into a sitting position so his back is free for Gobber to examine and he hopes the smith can stop the horrid <em> burning </em> that's making everything so hazy. From his new position he can smell spices and lightning, feel leather and cotton against his cheek. The cacophony of sounds is muffled by the broad chest he rests against and he lets darkness take him away.</p>
<p>Hiccup wakes briefly. He's covered by warm furs that weigh down his limbs and tempt him back to sleep. Stubbornly he turns his head to take in his surroundings. Slumped on the ground by his feet is Gobber, snorting in his sleep. Across the cavern is a mass that Hiccup recognizes as his father. The chief is sleeping silent for once and that would scare the rider if not for the steady movement of the man's chest. Next to him is Valka, her hands clutching one of her husband's, her head leaning on his hip from where she rests.</p>
<p>The sight of his family is comforting. He falls asleep.</p>
<p>Over the next several hours he wakes for a few minutes at a time. Someone is always by his side when he does. It's only Valka and Gobber for a while and he grows so used to seeing them that it's startling when he opens his eyes and sees Stoick's weary form propped onto his resting place. The man looks like he's awake through stubbornness alone but the relief on his face when he realizes his son is awake brings a small grin to Hiccup's own face. They don't say much - never do - simply sit in one another's company until they can't stay awake any longer.</p>
<p>Every time he wakes up the pain is worse. Valka only has so much medicine at the ready and it's not nearly enough to tend to a direct hit from a nightfury even when that hit was quick and low power. She says him and his father are lucky neither was hit by that first blast which was enough to knock Stoick through the air and hard enough into ice to cause a concussion.</p>
<p>Late into the afternoon, as the family gathers for a meal, Hiccup is coherent enough to ask where everyone else is and what happened to the army.</p>
<p>The army left for Berk with Drago and Toothless at its head. All the dragons were taken as well, leaving nothing but the hatchlings, most having joined them in Valka's home, curling up next to Hiccup and Stoick who have spent the majority of their day laying about and healing. As the army left, the collective group of dragon riders worked together to get Hiccup and Stoick to safety and tend to their wounds.</p>
<p>It was Viggo that came up with the idea to use the scuttleclaws to get to Berk, so those that were able left as soon as possible in hopes to catch up with Drago before the madman could overtake the village. They haven't heard anything back from the riders. All they can hope is that they made it in time and are just addressing the tribe before returning to the sanctuary.</p>
<p>In the middle of the night Hiccup is woken by the shuffling of hatchlings as they vacate his bed. Outside he hears a thousand wingbeats, sees shadows descending from the various entrances of the nest. He wants to investigate but his body is still in so much pain and he can't do more than turn over to get a better look. At the entrance of Valka's home, Viggo steps into view with two shadows behind him.</p>
<p>It take's his brain several seconds to reconcile the image and realize what he thought were hallucinations right after he was shot were actually reality. Viggo is here and alive and he's leading a shy, exhausted Toothless up to his makeshift bed. The dragon still looks guilty, his eyes darting away from Hiccup’s everytime they make contact, ears and wings tucked close to his body, trying to hide behind the former dragon hunter that slowly moves into the room with an encouraging hand on Toothless’ neck.</p>
<p>There’s clear exhaustion in Viggo’s form, as well. His steps are heavy and he looks like he could collapse at any moment. When he finally makes it to Hiccup’s bed, that’s exactly what he does, crawling up next to the younger man and letting himself fall there. As much as Hiccup wants to join him, he wants to quell the unease in his best friend first.</p>
<p>The dragon is hesitant to come closer. Hiccup imitates the soft warble Toothless uses on him when he’s stuck in a frenzy and panicked and his friend needs him to calm down. His arm is stretched as far as his injured body will allow, the limb visibly shaking with the strain. It’s enough to get Toothless to fill the gap, his snout meeting Hiccup’s hand and pushing past it to nuzzle his rider’s face. He’s gentle as he settles onto the floor with his head nestled next to his best friend’s side.</p>
<p>They fall asleep like that. Toothless with as much of himself pressed to Hiccup’s side as possible and Viggo having resituated on Hiccup’s other side so he can drape an arm over the rider’s chest, placing a soft kiss on his shoulder before giving into his fatigue.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I haven't hashed out the finer details of how Viggo helps Berk defeat Drago (i.e. you're not getting a chapter of the battle) but here's a summary:</p>
<p>Viggo would manage to get Drago off Toothless, but with more of a "knock him off and maybe get to Toothless in time to snap the tail into place" kind of way. The fall  and Viggo reassuring him Hiccup is alive could be enough to bring Toothless out of the alpha's control and the two would be able to separate Drago from his bewilderbeast. At this point, Viggo wouldn't hesitate to go for the kill (whereas Hiccup only aimed to hinder Drago, Viggo would aim to kill). This would be enough distraction for the bewilderbeast so his control weakens and Toothless could challenge him (his motivation being to protect his home but mostly to get back to Hiccup). After the battle, there would be a lot of cleanup and reorganizing with the dragons. It could keep them occupied for awhile since Toothless is the new alpha and the dragon population has tripled. Eventually they get to a point where they can head back to the sanctuary to retrieve the Haddock family and all the hatchlings.</p>
<p>Additionally, to explain how Hiccup got shot: Stoick and Viggo see Hiccup in danger and run to save him (from opposite directions). Stoick sees Viggo is closer so slows so they don't all collide in from of the shot. Here, Hiccup ALSO sees Viggo coming and panics bc he's seen this man die twice now and isn't about to witness it a third time. He throws himself at Viggo, nobody gets directly hit by that first plasma blast. Drago and the bewilderbeast aren't satisfied, Toothless is ordered to shoot again, but in order to not miss his chance again he does a quick, less powerful shot that hits Hiccup in the back. That's the moment we pick up at.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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